Confronting the culture wars

The "thrust" of a controversial review of the National Museum of Australia has been endorsed by its council and staff, the museum's chairman, Tony Staley, said yesterday.

He said the council would write to the federal Arts Minister, Rod Kemp, soon to outline what it sees as the way ahead for the institution at the heart of the country's so-called culture wars.

Some staff, who declined to be identified, said they had worked into the early hours with the outgoing director, Dawn Casey, to fashion a response to the Carroll review that would be acceptable to both staff and the divided museum council.

It was Casey's last council meeting this week after the Government decided to wind up her contract in December, against the wishes of the majority of the council.

Two members of the council, retired businessman Ron Webb and IT expert and businesswoman Sharon Brown, learnt at the meeting that they would not be reappointed to the council.

Many council members have been returned for a second term, including the Prime Minister's biographer, David Barnett, who is known to have complained about alleged bias at the museum - a claim disputed in the Carroll report.

Webb said he was disappointed not to be continuing with "an already excellent museum I think is going to get better". He said he had been fully supportive of Casey, whom he rated "150 out of 100".

"I think she could have been treated a whole lot better," he said.

Staley said he was not concerned about the apparent lack of Government action on advertising, interviewing or naming a replacement for Casey because the museum had a number of staff who could take over in an acting capacity.

But Webb said that "obviously when things are unsettled like that, it is never as good for the museum or the council".

Staley said Webb and Brown had both been excellent on council, but appointments were made at the discretion of the Minister for the Arts.

Webb declined to comment on speculation that he was not reappointed because of his support for Casey, which put him in opposition to a minority of powerful council members. "I think good solid reasoned debate in a forum like that is essential," he said.

"I certainly took quite a different tack than a couple on the council. They have one view, and at times that wasn't easy."

The notoriously divided museum council was largely civilised, Webb said, but he admitted to getting angry at times during his tenure there.

Recent additions to the council - religious broadcaster John Fleming and historian John Hirst - would make an excellent contribution to the museum and "certainly will provide the necessary balance that's sometimes needed because of the other views expressed".